Reaching Out
by Oishi24
Summary: "Say something, I will always be here to listen." He finally stops mourning.


A/N: I honestly don't know what I was thinking whilst writing this. It just happened. I hope you like it.

Disclaimer: I do not own Ghost Hunt.

Also, a special thanks to Turcnac for suggesting the title.

* * *

_The worst type of crying wasn't the kind everyone could see-the wailing on street corners, the tearing at clothes. No, the worst kind happened when your soul wept and no matter what you did, there was no way to comfort it. A section withered and became a scar on the part of your soul that survived.-Katie McGarry, Pushing the limits._

* * *

Oliver Davis isn't a hugger. It's safe to say he is the farthest thing one can be from it.

The feeling of someone putting their arms around him, that deep display of affection for a person the act conveys; it always made him uncomfortable beyond measures.

Like everything else in their life, Gene was a total opposite person in this matter. He was a hugger. He loved to hug people.

People loved him for it. Even the gruffest of persons would melt in his presence. People who are quiet and introverted would often be seen chatting away with other people to their heart's content.

When Gene would turn the force of his blue eyes on someone, they would feel special, like they were the only person on earth.

When Naru turns his cold blue eyes on someone, they felt like they were scrums of earth.

Oliver wishes he had let Gene hug him the last time before Gene left for Japan.

Regrets. There are so many of them. Broken dreams, unfulfilled wishes, things they never did, unspoken words. All of these haunt Oliver. Now that Gene isn't around anymore, there are so many things he wishes he had done or hadn't.

Oliver supposes it's normal. To regret things that you can never fix, it's human nature. Unfortunately, knowing that does nothing to alleviate his pain.

In the end, Oliver isn't surprised when he lets each and every member of SPR place their arms around him, envelope him in their warmth. He isn't going to say no to a person who wants to hug him ever again. Regretting his stupid brother is already tiring; he will not allow more people to be added to that list. Though why they feel like hugging him is something he doesn't understand. According to them, isn't he the most annoying, arrogant, foul mouthed person to ever exist on earth? Why would you develop tender feelings for someone like him? He can't attribute their behaviour to one of Mai's either- an affection born out of confusion, originally formed for the twin brother but mistakenly directed at him.

One by one each and every member of SPR hugs him and Lin, handing over a souvenir along too. He stands and endures it- pretending to go through this torture due to lack of choice. No surprise there. He is a master in the art of pretention.

What does come as a surprise is when he reciprocates the gesture when it came the brunettes turn to hug him.

His body develops a mind of its own, squeezing Mai Tanimaya in his grasp, buries his face in her hair- taking in the smell of her shampoo. Mai yelps in surprise, her arms sags in surprise and falls to her side from where they were clutching onto his shoulder. Seconds pass before Mai comes back to her senses and latches on him all over again.

This sudden display of affection by Naru is unexpected to say the least, but it's not unwelcome to Mai.

He releases a short puff of breath in relief.

He need not look up to know there was several pair of eyes watching the scene with astonishment.

Embarrassment is not an emotion Oliver has much experience with. No, it was also always his brother's thing. His brother- the eternal goof up, who would always say the right thing at the wrong time. _That emotional fool._

Naru isn't surprised when he feels this emotion so unlike him. He has done something completely out of character for him and is rightfully embarrassed. Still, in between all those emotions and thoughts, Naru finds himself reluctant to let go of Mai. Dilemma occurs as to when will be the right time to step back. Mai, however, is the first one to pull away before he could make himself move a muscle. She slowly disentangled herself from him, stepping back a few feet, effectively putting some much needed distance between them.

Mai's red face indicates she is as embarrassed as he is.

He doesn't stop to say anything, choosing not to linger a moment longer than necessary lest those annoying _friends _of his unleash their unwanted teasing and catcalls suiting Fifth graders directed towards him. Or maybe it is because he doesn't have the emotional strength to face Mai at this moment.

He passes through the airport terminal, but not before Mai slips a medium sized gift wrapped box in his hand. He pauses for a moment before nodding to her, so that no one other than her notices.

Gene was the exact opposite of him. He is everything Naru isn't and can never be. Gene was everything associated with sunshine and positivity while Naru resembled everything that is dark and negative.

Naru has never envied him for it. He has always been perfectly contained with letting his brother take the spotlight while he operated in shadows.

It's sad that this one time Oliver wants something of his brother- Mai Taniyama- and he can't even have the satisfaction of begrudging his brother that.

* * *

_Wasn't he in Japan till now? Found his brother's dead body. Poor boy!_

_He probably doesn't care. He is so cold._

_Heard he hated his brother?_

_Who wouldn't? Same face, same body, yet his brother was the one who got more attention._

_Poor Boy!_

_He doesn't care._

Whispers, murmuring, hushed words follows Oliver Davis everywhere he goes.

Everyone has different opinion about how _he_ feels. Some thinks he is someone who should be pitied, other thinks he doesn't care, and that he is not capable of accepting love or loving anyone.

Oliver knows the truth.

He loves a little too much.

* * *

Everyone except Mai calls to know how he is doing, if he is still the same old narcissist as per their word.

All those calls end in awkward silences on both their side. It's hard to continue conversation with a person who refuses to say anything more than necessary.

They still keep calling back.

There are times when Naru wants to say more but desists before he makes a fool of himself.

For in the darkest part of his heart, Naru wonders if they would have had any fondness for him if they had known Gene before him.

He supposes not.

* * *

Luella comes back from Japan to see how everything is going in here.

Eavesdropping is not a skill he has any interest in mastering but one can't help here when his mother and his former mentor are being as loud as they are.

They are worries about him, it seems. According to them, all he has done after coming back is sulk, and mope around.

_Lovesick, _they say.

Oh, if only they knew the truth.

He wants to cross over to them and refute their claim, putting a stop to their discussion.

Instead, he turns away from the living room door to head towards his original destination.

As much as he wants to deny everything, he knows better.

He hasn't been exactly productive after he came back.

The gift demands its attention from where it placed atop his work table.

He ignores it.

* * *

It is not until some months later that he dares open the gift Mai gave him.

He notices it when after a particularly tiring day at work; the package appears on his bed. There is a sneaking suspicion that Madoka grew tired of waiting for the day when he will finally get the courage to tear the package open with his own hands. Over the span of two months, there have been several instances when he had felt his hand creeping towards the box, his fingers curling around the cover only to pull away his hands at the very last seconds.

Oliver abhors feeling this way. He has always been a decisive person. His goals always set right. He knows what he is going to do, where he is going to do, when he is going to do it. It is always planned out in his head from the start.

Indecisiveness in him makes him feels weak. He fears he is going to commit a big mistake if he doesn't chart out how it is all going to pan out from the onset in his head.

Hasty decisions are not his thing either.

He makes one when he finds the courage he hasn't manage to accumulate before this moment and tears the wrapper open.

It's impossible for him to identify his emotions when small packets of Earl Grey tea leaves tumble out of the box due to the force he applied to open it. They scatter on the floor and on his bed, a small white paper falling along with them.

He bends and picks up the piece of paper. He stares at it hard, palm sweaty and there is this twisted feeling in his stomach.

He gulps, musing whether to read it or not.

Oh, this is ridiculous.

If he has opened the Pandora Box, he might as well face the evils inside it.

He unfolds the paper and begins reading.

_Dear Naru,_

_When I said I will leave you alone in the forest that day so you can cry, you asked, "Why would I do that?" _

_No, you wouldn't- because to you, doing so will mean showing sign of weakness. Something that you desperately wish does not happen. No, instead you chose to show everyone-that you aren't sad, that you aren't a sentimental fool just like the rest of us, when, in fact, you are more so than us. You feel, Naru. You feel more deeply than the rest of us do, which is exactly why you are afraid to show it._

_You can't fool me though, Oliver Davis.._

_ I have lost people too Naru. I know what's it like and I know what it does to a person._

_So, I beg of you. If, for one second in our short association you have ever considered me a friend- don't suppress it._

_Let go, cry, do something, anything. Say something, I will always be here to listen._

_P.S- I know you are thinking when Mai did become so smart? Guess what, narcissist? I always was._

_P.P.S- These words are pearls of wisdom. Do take them seriously you Idiot Scientist._

_Yours truly,_

_Mai_

Naru crushes the paper in his hand and sits on the edge of the bed, breathing hard.

That Mai.

* * *

His footsteps echo in the quiet of the cemetery, desisting few feet away from his brother's grave.

This is it.

He notices the fresh bouquet of flowers on it. He knows who it from is.

_Mai._

She must have asked Madoka to do it for her.

He stands there, silently observing his brothers grave. Cold wind swishes past him and he pulls his coat tighter around him. Despite what he wished, he is human and catching a cold would be counterproductive to his plans.

Cemeteries. These were places he is quiet used to. Being in the Ghost Hunting business, it's safe to say there have been number of time he had to visit such places.

What did he come here for? What is he trying to achieve?

Mai's words echoes in his ear. Ah! Mai haunted him more than any ghost ever did.

"_Say something, I will always be here to listen."_

It startles him how closely those words resemblance something once Gene told him. His brother had asked him to let go, to rely on him too. Noll wishes he had. If he had done so, he will be fulfilling his brother's wish and there will be one less thing to regret, no?

Sometimes, Oliver envies Mai. Why does she get to talk to his brother in her dream? Why does she get to be the only person who gets the chance to properly bid him goodbye, when she did not even know him before his death?

Other times, he envies Gene- no matter how much he tries not to. Why does his brother get to be the only person Mai falls in love with, when he did not even have the chance to meet her when he was alive?

It's quite screwed up for him, isn't it? The two people he loves the most are also the ones he hates the most.

It's scary how similar those two are and so magnificently out of his reach.

His jaw tightens in determination. He will finish what he has come to do.

Placing his own bouquet of flowers in front of Eugene's grave, he kneels down beside it.

He stares resolutely at his brother's nameplate, as if he expects Eugene to manifest into flesh out of it.

"I'm sorry."

That's all he says. That's all he needed to say. He is sorry for not always being there for his brother, for not smiling or laughing harder at Gene's jokes on the rare occasions that he did laugh, for not doing so many things that he could have done for him, for not being able to protect his brother from the accident that took him away from them forever.

But the thing he is truly apologizing for is choosing not to mourn his brother anymore.

He hopes- no, he knows his brother will understand. From the start, that's why he loitered around the astral project anyway- to see Noll move on.

* * *

His parents are pleasantly surprised when he comes out of his bedroom wearing black pants and a purple colour shirt.

Smart people that they are, they choose not to remark on it, though Oliver does notices the slight glistening of Luella's eyes.

* * *

Mai calls.

He picks up the phone, his stomach twisting in both anticipation and dread.

Anticipation on the prospect of hearing Mai's voice after such a long time. Dread for he already knows why she called.

"He is gone. Gene is gone." She says as soon as he presses the phone to his ear. Mai's voice is calm on the surface though he can sense the barely suppressed grief in it

He suspected. Then why does it suddenly feel harder to breath.

"Did he say anything?" Moments pass before he asks the thing he wanted to know.

"Yes. He said a lot actually. "Her voice breaks."He said that he is happy for you. That he is relieved that you finally had the good sense to stop sulking over things you can never change. He also said you are an ass for making his brother stay in the spirit plane for so long all because he was worried about you." Mai is sobbing now. Mai can't pretend to stay unaffected for too long. Her voice chokes as she continues, "And he asked me to take care of you."

"I see." What else was there to say? Gene was finally for gone. For Ever. He knows it was bound to happen. That it was inevitable. Yet, the deep stab of anguish he feels refuses to go away.

_It's fine. It's fine._

He really is the worst brother out there, wanting to keep his twin here for his selfish want even though being here will only bring pain to Gene.

He has made his decision yesterday, he can't regret it now.

"I am coming back," He informs Mai.

He hears a sharp intake of breathe on the other end.

"You- You are?" Surprise laces her words, but there is also the hint of relief- her voice still wet from crying. At least he managed to lift her mood. "That's great. That's amazing. When? I have got to tell everyone. I-," She stops once she realizes she is babbling.

The next part is the hardest of all. The most difficult question he has ever asked Mai."Is it me or Gene?" would probably be mild in comparison.

"When I come back...I want to talk?" It comes out as a question. "Will you listen?" He continues.

_Say something, I will always be here to listen._

Her answer feels like salvation.

"Always."

* * *

Please, please Review. I am too anxious about this one. So good, bad anything you feel. Please say. Also, Constructive criticism is hugely appreciated.


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